Virtually all joints have cartilage. Cartilage is important in the body of animals for providing flexibility, compressibility under pressure, cushion, tensile strength, range of motion and smoothness of movement within joints. Examples of joints having cartilage include fingers and toes, neck, knee, hip, shoulder and the like. Animals can suffer from a number of conditions where cartilage is negatively affected thereby bringing about a reduction in the joint's flexibility, compressibility and often times resulting in a generalized inflammation of the joint and/or tissue surrounding the joints. Such animals then have significant loss of joint function and experience pain.
Large dogs may develop arthritis as they age. Large dog breeds are more susceptible to arthritis due to their increased mass and/or genetic disposition. Large dogs are not the only animals at risk of arthritis and other cartilage conditions. Arthritis and other degenerative joint diseases have been commonly recognized in dogs and such conditions have been shown to be prevalent in cats. Animals at risk of developing cartilage-affecting conditions include, but are not limited to, mammals such as canine, feline, equine, hircine, ovine, porcine, bovine, human and non-human primate species, and birds including turkeys and chickens.
An important indicator of animal health is the body composition of the animal. An unhealthy diet and/or an unhealthy lifestyle can result in the animal having an unhealthy proportion of body fat, particularly in relation to lean muscle in the body. It is thought that a body fat amount in excess of 30% by weight indicates that the animal is unhealthy, particularly if the amount of body fat is in excess of 35% by weight.
The invention encompasses pet food compositions for companion animals, which have increased therapeutic and prophylactic efficacy over currently marketed companion food products.